News Releases

(CROSSVILLE, Tenn.) - The Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation and the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will host an educational public forum on the UT Biofuels Initiative and switchgrass production at the UT Plateau Research and Education Center in Crossville on Monday, October 22, at 9:30 a.m. CDT.

The forum is an opportunity for the public to learn more about the UT Biofuels Initiative (UTBI), an innovative research and business model in which the state has invested upwards of $70 million.

Lincoln Davis, U.S. Congressman representing Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District, will be a special participant in the forum.

The forum will be held in the Plateau Research and Education Center’s indoor meeting space. The center is located on U.S. Hwy. 70 North, approximately 7 miles west of Crossville. A map to the center is available online at http://plateau.tennessee.edu/

The goal of the UTBI is to partner the research capabilities of UT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and private industrial partners such as Mascoma Corporation, together with area farmers to increase Tennessee’s energy independence by advancing production of cellulosic ethanol in the state. The focal point of the initiative calls for the construction and operation of a 5-million-gallon per year cellulosic ethanol plant in Vonore, about 35 miles south of Knoxville.

Other key elements of the UTBI include a switchgrass farmer incentive program to establish a new energy crop, significant research to address technological challenges and commercial development of a cellulosic biofuels industry in the state.

Cellulosic ethanol is fuel made from biomass sources such as switchgrass, wood chips, agricultural residues and other non-food plant materials. It is widely seen as an answer to producing affordable, sustainable, domestic, renewable fuel.

Congressman Lincoln Davis was elected to serve the 4th District of Tennessee in January 2003. Davis is a former mayor of Byrdstown, and he served in both the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Tennessee State Senate before being elected to the U.S. Congress. Davis is a member of both the Agriculture and Financial Services committees. A farmer himself, Davis will discuss the effects that a bioenergy industry in the state could have on Tennessee farmers and landowners.

Also participating in the forum are Mr. Julius Johnson, chief administrative officer for Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation; Dr. Kelly Tiller, director of External Operations for the UT Office of Bioenergy Programs; Dr. Clark Garland, chair of Biofuels Farmer Education Programs for UT Extension; Dr. Delton Gerloff, UT agricultural economics professor; a representative from Mascoma Corporation; and a representative from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Mr. Buddy Mitchell, UT associate vice president for agriculture, will serve as moderator for the discussion.

The forum is free and open to the public, and questions will be accepted from the audience.

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Contact:
Patterson Wilson, UT Office of Bioenergy Programs, (865) 974-5807, pattersonw@utk.edu

UT Biofuels Initiative online at: www.UTbioenergy.org